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Owner Of Amy's Baking Company Featured On Epic 'Kitchen Nightmares' Episode Faces Deportation
The owner of Amy's Baking Company melted down on live TV and then the internet and then TV again. But despite hiring a publicist to do damage control, it looks like the restaurant hasn't quite staged a comeback.
On Tuesday, the restaurant hosted a grand re-opening, and they managed to keep the media out mostly while allowing customers with reservations in. The Arizona Republic reportsthat the re-opening was not very crowded though it was at least uneventful. But the publicist the owners hired last week to do damage control didn't even last an entire week.
But it gets worse: it turns out that the day before the grand re-opening co-owner Samy Bouzaglo was at a hearing with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the Arizona Republic. Bouzaglo is an Israeli citizen born in Morocco with a criminal past, though his record has been clean since he arrived 13 years ago. The case has been going on for two years, and the agency is interested in revoking Bouzaglo's residency. The timing of the case was coincidental—Bouzaglo's immigration attorney David Asser said he had no idea that his client was going on TV.
Samy's wife Amy Bouzaglo has a record, too: she was convicted of misusing a Social Security number when she applied for a $15,000 bank loan in 2003. She told the Arizona Republic by phone (while the couple argued over each other): "We both made mistakes in the past. We have done our time. We can’t comment. We know God is with us."
Related:
Amy's Baking Company Plans To Reopen, Hires Publicist To Tell Their Side Of Epic Meltdown
Waitress Fired From Amy's Baking Company Explains What Happened Behind The Scenes Of Epic TV Meltdown
Video: Amy's Baking Company Owners Explain Their Crazy With More Crazy on Local News
Owners of Amy's Baking Company, Restaurant Featured on 'Kitchen Nightmares,' Show How Not to Use The Internet